Ten redundant money expressions (and one curveball)

I’ll admit it. I’m a card-carrying member of the grammar police, the spelling police, and the style police.

“Weird Al” Yankovic released his newest album Mandatory Fun less than two months ago. He parodied a Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” with “Word Crimes.” If Weird Al’s song speaks to the innermost parts of your being, then you understand.

And, it you’re scratching your head: No worries; we can still be friends!

Below is a list of commonly used, but redundant, money expressions. The phrases either deal with money directly, or deal with issues that can cause people to spend a lot of money.

PIN number. The acronym PIN stands for personal identification number. Saying “number” again at the end is redundant. The same would be true of the phrase “SSN number.”

ATM machine. One doesn’t deposit or withdraw from an automated teller machine machine.

$12 million dollars. Writing this amount either as $12 million or as 12 million dollars gets the point across as to what unit of money we’re talking about.

Cash money. This phrase is used in sales pitches and street-side negotiations. Nonetheless, cash is money, right?

Free gift. Whatever is being received isn’t a gift unless it’s free. (Whether the gift should be looked upon with suspicion or not is another matter.)

Preboard. Some passengers might board an airplane before other passengers, but none of them can get on the plane before they … get on the plane.

Hot water heater. We’ve had to replace water heaters (at great expense), but never a hot water heater. It’s unclear whether a hot water heater is (a) a water heater that is hot, or (b) a heater that heats water that is already hot. (We might need both a water heater and a hot water heater, then — just so the hot water heater actually has some hot water to heat!)

UPC code. The bar codes that are scanned at checkout are called universal product codes. “Code” is part of the name.

Safe haven. These types of investments or accounts are extra-safe, apparently. A haven is already “a place of safety” so a “safe place of safety” really has a lot of safety going on, doesn’t it?

IRA Account? This one might be redundant, or not. The IRS defines an individual retirement arrangement that gives tax-advantaged status for contributions that are governed by deposit, withdrawal, and reporting restrictions. The same abbreviation also is used to describe a particular account — an individual retirement account – which plays a part in a person’s individual retirement arrangement. If the intent of the phrase “IRA account” is to describe an account that is part of an individual retirement arrangement, then it’s not redundant.

So … beware of people who enter their PIN numbers into the ATM machine to withdraw $300 dollars in cash money from their IRA accounts to buy a new hot water heater.

Hosting I Recommend

Disclaimer

This site is to be used for entertainment purposes or general information only, and does not constitute personalized professional financial advice. Please contact one or more independent financial professionals for advice regarding your specific situation and needs.
In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we may have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include affiliate relationships, and receiving access to products and/or services, or compensation, for the purposes of product and service reviews and giveaways.
Because things change quickly, we state that any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. We do our best to keep things up to date, but some information may have changed since it was published. Please exercise due diligence before taking action on any third party offers.